20 April 2024

Comet Lovejoy’s June swan song through Ursa Minor

By Ade Ashford

3 June 2015 Ade Ashford

Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy remains a circumpolar and readily located object throughout June 2015, but its magnitude will fade from +8 to +9, making it a challenge in the twilight all night of northern parts of the British Isles. Note the 10-degree scale bar at the bottom equivalent to twice the field of view of most 10x50 binoculars. Click the graphic for a full-size version suitable for printing. AN graphic by Ade Ashford. — Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy remains a circumpolar and readily located object throughout June 2015, but its magnitude will fade from +8 to +9, making it a challenge in the twilight all night of northern parts of the British Isles. Note the 10-degree scale bar at the bottom equivalent to twice the field of view of most 10×50 binoculars. Click the graphic for a full-size version suitable for printing. AN graphic by Ade Ashford.

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy has certainly proved to be a durable comet. Throughout the spring of 2015 it has been a readily observable object owing to its circumpolar position, never setting over the British Isles since February.

But all good things must come to an end and, despite its enviable position in the sky for Northern Hemisphere sky watchers, Comet Lovejoy is battling summer twilight and fading (albeit much slower than predictions) from magnitude +8 to +9 throughout June as its distance from Earth increases from 2.3 to 2.52 astronomical units.

C/2014 Q2 traverses some 15° of the constellation Ursa Minor during June, averaging about 0.5° — or the diameter of the Full Moon — per day. Having passed just 1.1° from the Pole Star, Polaris, in late May, Comet Lovejoy passes just 0.25° from magnitude +2 star β Ursae Minoris — commonly known as Kocab — in the small hours of June 30th.

Observers attempting to view or photograph Comet Lovejoy during its June swan song should avoid the gibbous phases of the Moon (use our Almanac to find Moon-free nights) and try to observe close to 1 am BST in order to mitigate the effects of twilight. Clear skies!